Investigation Confirms No Fraud in Bolivian 2019 Presidential Election, Foreign Minister Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - An official investigation showed that there was no fraud in the 2019 presidential election in Bolivia, as was claimed by an August report of the Organization of American States (OAS), the country's Foreign Minister Rogelio Mayta said on Friday.

"Regarding the OAS report, which referred to alleged electoral fraud, a process has been initiated. This investigation is now in its final stages. It has been confirmed that the fraud did not exist," Mayta said at joint press conference after the meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

In early August, the OAS Secretariat for Strengthening of Democracy published a report in which it reviewed the official audit of the 2019 electoral process in Bolivia. In the report, the OAS claimed that the identified server failures were not an accident, as assumed by the auditors, but a "manipulation of technological infrastructure and part of a network of lies, with the help of which they tried to deceive the OAS team and the entire population of Bolivia."

In November 2019, Evo Morales resigned as president and left Bolivia under pressure from the military, after the Bolivian opposition, led by Carlos Mesa, claimed that there had been mass violations during the October 2019 vote. The OAS was observing the presidential elections and found several irregularities. The report of the organization strengthened the influence of the opposition and contributed to the resignation of Morales.

Power in the country was assumed by former opposition vice-speaker of the senate, Jeanine Anez. Morales called the events a coup. Anez arranged for a new presidential vote, which took place on October 18, 2020. The election was won by Luis Arce from Morales’ Movement for Socialism party (MAS).

In March 2021, the police arrested Anez on suspicion of terrorism, incitement to rebellion, and conspiracy in the alleged coup. She has been in jail since then.